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ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) vs Rapid7 InsightIDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

ArcSight Enterprise Securit...
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
21st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Rapid7 InsightIDR
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
15th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (5th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (26th), Threat Deception Platforms (5th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) is 1.1%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 InsightIDR is 2.6%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Gaurav Ranade - PeerSpot reviewer
Excels at performing regression and correlation on the data
ArcSight is a legacy technology, and many customers want AI-powered technologies integrated with it. That hasn't been done yet, but ArcSight needs to catch up with the newer solutions and technologies available in the market. It can't just rely on the legacy technology from 2010 or 2012. You can't run that in 2024. It's a legacy technology with its own limitations. Customers often face issues that other software or newer solutions can resolve easily. That's the main challenge we face from customers right now. So, the only concerns are that AI needs to be integrated and scalability improved. Those are the main areas to be improved.
Asim Naeem - PeerSpot reviewer
Providing comprehensive insight into alerts while working towards AI enhancement
I definitely recommend Rapid7 InsightIDR. It is becoming better, with improvements being continuously made to the product. Right now, I do not have any advice about Rapid7 for other users because every organization or user has different criteria or multiple use cases, so I refrain from commenting on that. I rate the overall solution seven out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Once the rules are defined, it becomes easy to detect changes and generate automated logs."
"There are many features that are good for clients who are looking for a good SIEM solution. They like the ease of creating a business that is effective and impressive."
"We do consulting and I get feedback from our clients that the product really helped them with compliance, especially with GDPR."
"What I found most valuable in ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) is its good integration with third-party products. The solution also has good core capabilities."
"ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) works perfectly. It's a stable and scalable product."
"It prevented my users from getting infected by ransomware. It can also pinpoint the story behind every virus or network attack to our environment."
"The most useful features are directories, price, and live reporting."
"The user interfaces are quite good and speedy."
"If you were on other solutions, you would notice that they use agents from third-party, from open-source, from a native OS, or from other tools. Here, however, it is an agent from Rapid7 itself. This adds to the solution's overall capabilities."
"InsightIDR has allowed us to find potential security issues that we did not know existed, and get remediation quickly."
"I am able to run automated actions based on the output of reports, leaving me extra time to focus on more pressing matters."
"I like the tool's user analysis feature."
"The solution's initial setup is easy."
"Features for user behavior analytics and the rules for attack review are good."
"It is a very stable solution."
"Very intuitive and easy to set up."
 

Cons

"The product should include a lot more predefined scenarios so the adopted company will have knowledge and a broader skill set in security and network."
"Administration of ArcSight is not an easy job. The admin needs to be well experienced in it to identify the root cause and fix it."
"The first limitation is with the ArcSight Data Storage Manager (ADSM). ArcSight's total capacity is currently capped at 12 TB. This becomes an issue if a customer needs a longer real-time data retention period, such as exceeding 90 days or reaching a year or even ten months. Increasing the disk space beyond 12 TB is not currently possible."
"The onboarding process for this solution could be better. It also needs a better GUI."
"ArcSight ESM's UI is a little cumbersome and complex, especially for first-time and occasional users using the console manager."
"The tool should improve its UI. It also should make data more searchable."
"The roadmap is not clear."
"The initial setup could be more straightforward."
"InsightIDR is only available in a cloud version. Some of our customers prefer an on-prem solution because they want to manage the security within their environment."
"Currently, it lacks the functionalities provided by Rapid7's User Behavior Analytics (UBA)."
"Inability to get access to compliance reports within the solution."
"I feel it would greatly benefit from more supported log sources."
"The integration capabilities of the solution have certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The main problem lies in the processes within the client's operating systems."
"The interface for doing investigation needs to be enhanced with minor improvements that would make it more useful."
"One of the things that could be better is digital forensics. It is there, but it can be better. They could provide more on the endpoint detection level."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We're paying a fee for an MSSP, and the cost of the total cost of ArcSight ESM was approximately three to four million dollars a year. The price was less than similar solutions. We did not have additional fees."
"​It is best to be an institutional buyer and directly contact the sales team, as they can provide over-the-top discounts for bulk orders.​"
"Price-wise, ArcSight ESM was a bit high compared to competitors, which factored into our decision to switch to Splunk. It couldn't cover all our business needs for what we wanted to implement."
"ArcSight is pretty expensive compared with its competitors. I believe that is fine as it provides value."
"ArcSight ESM is an affordable solution, it cost approximately $200,000 for three years. This price was at a substantial discount."
"The product licenses are inexpensive."
"Pricing is good, I'd rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being low price. It's better than Splunk and IBM QRadar because their pricing is based on EPS."
"Thanks to Micro Focus's licensing model, as an MSSP, we are able to see a complete return on our investment almost immediately."
"Licensing is by endpoint and amount of retention time (at least ours is). Default retention was one year, but we are able to push the retention further if needed. There's also a provide-your-own-S3 option for longer retention if you don't want to pay for the additional retention years in your Rapid7 agreement."
"Licensing is straightforward. If, for some reason, you don’t meet the minimum licensing requirements, there is a third-party managed service that can help."
"Rapid7 InsightIDR is priced very well and is cost-effective."
"Rapid7 InsightIDR is a cheaply priced product. On a scale of one to ten, where one is very expensive, and ten is very cheap, I rate the product's price at seven or eight."
"Rapid7 InsightIDR charges us based on the endpoints we connect to."
"Rapid7 InsightIDR's pricing is reasonable but we have challenges with the Minimum Order Quantity. It is not reasonable for customers who have less than one hundred devices. If they can reduce Minimum Order Quantity, it is good. You have to pay around 5000-6000 dollars per year for the product. The pricing includes maintenance and support costs."
"​I am sure that there are cheaper products out there, but none that meet so many of our needs whilst maintaining stability and usability.​"
"The pricing and licensing are competitive."
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Comparison Review

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Jun 28, 2015
Qradar vs. ArcSight
Continuing with the SIEM posts we have done at Infosecnirvana, this post is a Head to head comparison of the two Industry leading SIEM products in the market – HP ArcSight and IBM QRadar Both the products have consistently been in the Gartner Leaders Quadrant. Both HP and IBM took over niche SIEM…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the best SIEM tool for a mid-sized financial services firm: Arcsight or Securonix?
In my market, a lot of financial companies had or have an ArcSight installation. Just because in former times it was pretty good. Now a lot of them are looking for a more effective solution due to ...
What do you like most about ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager (ESM)?
We utilize ArcSight ESM for real-time threat detection in our organization. We have custom rules that we've developed on top of the WAN services, along with scheduled licensing activities.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager (ESM)?
ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) is very cheap compared to other tools. It is worth the investment if you are considering the cost.
What SOC product do you recommend?
For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is asking to miss details that are critical, and ending up a statistic. Also, rememb...
What do you like most about Rapid7 InsightIDR?
During simulations or demonstrations, the tool generates alerts, providing details such as the specific application, its origin, and potential threats. For instance, it can identify if an applicati...
 

Also Known As

Micro Focus ArcSight, HPE ArcSight, ArcSight
InsightIDR
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lake Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bank AlJazira, Banca Intesa, and Obrela.
Liberty Wines, Pioneer Telephone, Visier
Find out what your peers are saying about ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.